Hughes Hall Literary Day 2026

20th March. I listened to novelists Megan Hunter, Burhan Sonmez, Sarvat Hasin, Rebecca Birrell, Yvonne Battle-Felton, Joe Mungo Reed and Sam Sussman, followed by poets Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Adam Crothers, Bhanu Kapil and Angela Leighton. Many interesting points made. Here are a few -

• Burham Sonmez mentioned that Marquez turned down lucrative Hollywood contracts on aesthetic grounds. 10 years after his death his sons did a deal with NetFlix
• Sarvat Hasin talked about long-term friendships - how Ferrante's written about them; how the codes of conduct aren't clear (how can you end them?)
• Joe Mungo Reed said that his advice to students is sometimes "Too much stuff! Just tell a story!" - advice which struck a chord with me.
• Adam Crothers (partly tongue in cheek) said he'd discovered subject matter.
• There was quite a lot of discussion about auto-fiction and "truth"